Over the last few seasons we have seen some truly incredible rookies enter NASCAR Winston Cup racing. Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and last year's phenom Kevin Harvick have redefined what it means to have a successful rookie campaign. This year there are only four announced candidates for the Raybestos Rookie Of The Year title, here is a look ahead at what we can expect from each and my prediction for the 2002 ROTY winner.

The Part-Timers

Starting at the back of the pack we find Carl Long. Running only a partial schedule, Carl will be hard pressed to find a great deal of success in the highly competitve rookie class. Making his uphill battle even steeper, Carl will be running leftover Petty engines from the 2001 season.

Shawna Robinson is another driver who is only planning on running a partial schedule. With only 24 races scheduled her chances of walking away with the title are severely diminished. Ernie Elliott motors and her raw talent will give her a clear edge over Carl Long, but that's not enough for her to overcome the two full-time drivers on this list.

The Real Battle

Now we get into the real Raybestos Rookie contenders. Ryan Newman and Jimmy Johnson are both fortunate to have landed themselves top-notch equipment. Newman will be driving the #12 Penkse South entry as Rusty Wallace's teammate while Jimmy Johnson will find himself in the new Hendrick Motorsports #48. Money should not be an issue for either team as Newman will pick up Jeremy Mayfield's Mobile One sponsorship while Johnson will enjoy Mike Skinner's old Lowes Home Improvement money.

Both drivers come from successful racing backgrounds and have successful teammates from whom they can learn the ins and outs of racing in Winston Cup. Although I don't expect to see the kind of success that we've seen in the recent rookie classes, this year's rookie battle should be very close as the drivers are evenly matched.

The ROTY battle more often comes down to a question of experience, maturity, the ability to learn quickly and stay out of the way while you gain valuable experience and the respect of your fellow drivers. If this were a question of who will be the more successful driver ten years from now I would probably go with Johnson, but it's not. While Johnson may have some great finishes, I believe that he will be more likely to DNF than Newman.

My 2002 Raybestos Rookie of the Year prediction? I'm going with Ryan Newman.